Is It Ever Possible to Be Financially Free of Parents?

March 30th, 2008 | Stacey | Financial Freedom, Financial Independence

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Is it every possible to be financially free of parents? Despite the honest efforts of many people to get debt help and attain financial independence, they still wind up having to ask their parents for help.

This trend is starting to affect people in their 40s and 50s, who are moving back home to live with their aging parents. With rising credit card debts and a slumping economy sweeping the nation, self-sufficient adults are finding themselves without a job and with little or no resources to survive the crisis. As a result, they wind up taking assistance from their elderly parents rather than claiming bankruptcy.

Financial planners are concerned about both ends of this situation. First, the younger generation has to take more aggressive steps to avoid financial peril. Cutting back, saving money along the way and having insurance policies are all ways to avoid financial ruin. Secondly, the older generation is not always equipped to take on the burden of adult children in their 40s and 50s. Often these seniors wind up in financial difficulty themselves when they try to help their family. In fact, Karin Maloney Stifler, a financial planner, states these well-meaning parents, “jeopardize their financial freedom by continuing to subsidize their children.”

Further, a recent AARP survey revealed a quarter of Generation Xers (people between 28 and 39 years old) get financial help from family and friends. The same survey found more than half the people felt they were “financially independent”.

Clearly, the younger generation needs to learn more about the real meaning of financial independence and their parents may need to exercise some tough love to teach them about it so they can finally become financially free of parents.